This 500, 000 word reference work provides the most comprehensive general treatment available of the peoples and places of the regions commonly referred to as the ancient Near and Middle East ' extending from the Aegean coast of Turkey in the west to the Indus river in the east. It contains some 1, 500 entries on the kingdoms, countries, cities, and population groups of Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Iran and parts of Central Asia, from the Early Bronze Age to the end of the Persian empire.